New acute care surgery leadership named

P.J. Schenarts, M.D., will step down as chief of acute care surgery in the UNMC Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery. Dr. Schenarts will continue his role as UNMC professor and vice chair for academic affairs and faculty development within the department of surgery. He will devote his time to surgical education.

Brett Waibel, M.D.

Dr. Schenarts was a key player in the Nebraska Medicine transition to full-time trauma coverage in 2014 and the journey to become a nationally recognized Level 1 Trauma Center with the American College of Surgeons in 2017.

“We set out three years ago to raise the bar for trauma care in our community by expanding our resources and infrastructure to align our services with a national standard,” Dr. Schenarts, then trauma medical director, said in 2017. “This achievement means we have the capacity and capability to treat any patient’s injury, no matter their age, at any time of the day or night.”

“Dr. Schenarts has accomplished a great task and put our trauma center on the map,” said David W. Mercer, M.D., chair of the UNMC Department of Surgery.

Brett Waibel, M.D., current director of surgical critical care, has been named interim chief of acute care surgery.

Lisa Schlitzkus, M.D., will continue as director of trauma surgery and Keely Buesing, M.D., will continue as director of emergency general surgery.

“Please join me in thanking Dr. Schenarts for all of his hard work and accomplishments over the last several years,” Dr. Mercer said.